LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – Junior goalkeeper Loucas Costeas (Nicosia, Cyprus) recorded 10 saves, as the UMass Lowell men's soccer team (1-1-0, 0-0-0 AE) fell to the Siena Saints (2-0-0, 0-0-0 MAAC) on Monday afternoon at Hickey Field.
 
"I thought we started off well and had some very good moments in the game," said head coach Kyle Zenoni. "We hit a bit of a wall late in the game and it hurt us. Siena is a good team, well coached, and they punished us late in the game. I'm proud of the guys, they are fighting and working very hard. We have a lot of newness and we are learning a lot."

Sophomore Viljar Byrkjeland (Norheimsund, Norway) recorded the lone goal for the River Hawks off an assist from freshman Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina), while senior Alessandro Marongiu (Villa San Pietro, Italy) led the team with five shots.
 
Less than two minutes into the game UMass Lowell took advantage of a defensive error by Siena when Esnaola stole the ball from a Saints defender and dished a pass out to Byrkjeland who fired a shot into the back of the net, giving the River Hawks the early 1-0 lead.
 
The River Hawks continued to bring the offensive pressure, out shooting the Saints 9-3 over the first 30 minutes of play. In the 35th minute, Siena found an opening through the UMass Lowell defense, leading to a header off a crossing pass to tie the game up at one heading into the locker room.
 
Out of the break, Siena brought an aggressive offensive attack, putting pressure on UMass Lowell. Staying resilient, the River Hawks defense continue to make key stops, including a diving save by Costeas to prevent a breakaway goal. Costeas refused to budge as he totaled up eight saves throughout the second half.
 
In the 83rd minute, Siena broke the tie after capitalizing on a defensive miscue, giving them a 2-1 lead. In the final minute of the game, junior Milan Rosic (Burlingame, Calif.) fired a shot at the net to even the score, but a save by the goalkeeper would help Siena hold on to the 2-1 victory.

Next up, the River Hawks head to Kingston, R.I. to take on the University of Rhode Island at the URI Soccer Complex on Friday, September 2, at 7 p.m.